Field of Art
The disclosure generally relates to the field of mobile applications, and specifically to contextual deep linking of mobile applications.
Description of Art
The development of application ecosystems on client devices (such as the ecosystem associated with “application stores” on smartphones) has created a system where users can easily install new applications and immediately add new functionality to their client devices. This is because the applications that are provided by the ecosystem are semi-standardized to provide a unified installation process, and may use standardized library functions provided by the ecosystem. However, as the number of applications provided by these ecosystems increase, the environment on a user's client device becomes less cohesive as unlike with hyperlinks on the Internet, each application on the client device is unable to easily link to a section of another application on the client device through the application installation process. Additionally, users are unable to direct other users to particular sections of these applications either, especially in the case where the other user does not have the application installed on his or her client device. This creates a situation where users are forced to operate each application in semi-isolation. Hence, what was lacking was a method of easily directing users to sections within applications and passing data to applications, regardless of the type of client device the user and whether the application is installed on the client device.